Iron Shards
by Kaless
Summary: A collection of drabbles for The Art of Breathing that didn't quite fit in or were filled out after a chapter was uploaded.
1. Fragments

**Fragments**

"Grief mixed with shock is such a difficult state to be in; it's hard even to describe it. On the one hand, I was numb and felt like I was in some sort of dream state - I couldn't believe she was gone, but I knew it was true. And despite the shock, which makes you feel like you're muffled in cotton, my nerve ends were screaming. I was in emotional pain so intense it was physical." -Robert Wagner

…

He always came to pick up his comrades from the hospital.

"Yuuto Nishimura?" A hospital orderly called, clipboard in hand and a slightly drawn, if neutral look on her face. He stood up and made his way over to her. "Right this way sir."

Pale, washed out institutional beige walls. Mottled, off white linoleum floor tiles. The passing of an odd lab coat wearing staff member. No eye contact.

The steady clip of hospital efficient footsteps. Military efficient footsteps. Clack, clack, clack.

He always came to pick up his comrades. Especially his kouhai.

He'd trained the brats. He had taken them under his wing, so to speak and was on several of their emergency contact lists.

That was part of why he was here.

A metal door. Nothing special. One of many in the hallway, evenly spaced out between stretches of impersonal, blank walls. 104M.

"Here we are." She unlocked the door and led him through, "If you could confirm identification on any of them…?"

A military at ease stance. Show no emotion. Keep it together. Green eyes focused on the woman's face, steadfast ignorance of a room full of drawers.

"Here we go," she said easily as she pulled out a drawer. Inside was a body. It was a morgue after all.

"Number 663. Retreived from Sector 427S13. Multiple wounds to the head, chest, and right upper extremity. Severe wound to the neck."

Kazuto had light brown eyes that almost reminded him of Remus' gold. He liked running, thought it was relaxing. Told the corniest jokes like they were going out of style. _'You don't call, you don't write…'_ Hated the color pink. Was dead, dead, dead on the table.

"…-eived from Sector 429S06. Traumatic partial decapitation due to high explosive tag. Vault of the skull laid open and brain eviscerated. Severe fragmentation of the bones of the vault and bones of the base of the skull on the left side."

She had pulled out another one. Deep, even breathes. Stay calm. The scent of blood and death overlaid by hospital standard sanitation.

_Merlin_. It was Kaname. He recognized the tattoo on his wrist. _Merlin_. _Merlin_._ Merlin_.

He had trained them. Sharpened up their edges and polished them up nice.

They were his…

Focus.

"… Sector 429S10. Multiple wounds to head, neck, chest, and upper and lower extremities due to fragments of rock. Possibly from a shattered Doton jutsu."

Yoshihide. One of Kaname's teammates. His students. His subordinates. His kouhai. His comrades…

"Sir. Can you positively identify subjects 633, 638, or 653?"

He turned to face the technician, tearing his eyes from the remains. Rule 25. _"A shinobi must keep emotions on the inside, no matter what the situation."_

He straighten imperceptibly, with steel in his green, green eyes.

Yuuto always came to pick up his comrades from the hospital.


	2. Mists in the Rain

**Mists in the Rain**

If you're constantly moving, you can get in a monotony that's just as equally boring as sitting still for a long period of time.

Amy Seimetz

….

The opalescent mists of early morning rose from the ground to meet the soft drizzle of rain, almost obscuring the view.

The patrol was running close to the Fire-Rain border. Closer than any other route, right on the edge of it in truth. Somewhere on the foggy horizon were the low, timeworn worn mountains and high cities of Ame.

Yuuto flicked a glance at the rest of his patrol squad. The hindered view had everyone stretching their senses. They were all alert for possible trouble and easily keeping pace.

This was already the second route that the squad had patrolled this morning. The first had been at false dawn before the sun had fully crested the horizon line.

Throughout the day they would run several different routes at varying intervals along the section of border they were assigned to monitor.

Green eyes hunted ahead. Once in a while the mists would shift, forming a strange, dreamlike effect. On the distant skyline, bits of mountain and Ame cityscape hovered in the air like a mirage. A spire here, a skyscraper there, they took shape. Edges blurred by the fog, only to dissolve a moment later in the grey mists.

One could almost feel poetic with the scene. A monochromatic ink drawing of ghosts passing through the mists.

However, the artistry was harder to formulate when the thought of easy ambush kept crossing your mind.

Ears pricked, his heart maintained a beat to the pace. As, with the military precision trained into them, the patrol kept moving.

"Five miles to checkpoint," Yuuto stated lowly. His comrades grunted an affirmative.

The moisture clung to his clothes, making them not quite damp. The humidity would be a killer later in the day as the temperature rose with the sun, he thought fleetingly to himself while scanning ahead.

Patrols were always monotonous, though necessary.

Yet, for all of the mumbled complaints and mind numbing miles of monitoring, Yuuto was satisfied to return to Konoha with a report full of boring nothing.

Afterall, excitement was dangerous in this line of work. And a boring mission meant a successful one with no injuries or deaths.

And that was always a good thing.


End file.
